How Rick Bayless Danced his Way through SoBe Wine and Food Fest

Rick Bayless, a leader in the Mexican culinary space and Chicago chef/owner of beloved restaurants Topolobampo, Frontera Grill, and XOCO, is headed back to the South Beach Food & Wine Festival, which begins today. The busy chef, who recently launched a podcast with Chicago food personality Steve Dolinsky, unveiled new historic tasting menus at Topolobampo, and is planning a couple of new restaurants this year, sat down with TLK to talk samba, South Beach, and the evolving state of Mexican cuisine.

TLK: First off, tell us a little bit about the podcast with Steve Dolinsky.

RB: Steve’s a really amazing journalist.  Radio journalist. He does a variety of things from high to low covering food markets and that kind of stuff.  He and I have been tweeting for about two years, trying to do a food spot on a station here, but then we thought ‘in this day and age we don’t really need the radio station anymore.’ So, we launched a podcast. We’re just having fun with it. It’s really fast paced and very interesting. We do everything from calling up restaurant people — reviewers or journalists all over the country — and getting them to tell us what’s happening in their city.  We do a quiz that’s sort of trivia related. And I love cooking on the radio…

TLK: You can hear the pops and the sizzles of the kitchen…

RB: Yes, you can hear the sounds and it forces you, as a cook, to explain everything in great detail because you have to create the visuals yourself.  I really love that part of it. We are also doing a little chef challenge, where you have to make a dish. Both chefs have to work with one of the same ingredients. We did one that was on mustard greens, and then one that was on celery root, and you have 15 minutes to make a dish. You can only incorporate five other ingredients.

TLK: Sounds like a blast.

RB: It is. It really is.

TLK: So, past the podcast, you have a lot of projects on the docket right now.

RB: It does seem like there’s a lot of them, yes!

TLK: The Wicker Park restaurant. That’s a little bit overdue, eh?

RB: Ohhh…is it overdue? No, it’s way overdue. I thought we might be open by now, at least. We haven’t even started construction. And it seems like every time we come across something else, we have to fix it. But we like the building so we’re continuing to work on it.

TLK: Your own personal money pit.

RB: It is!

TLK: We know you’re not going to tell us the details of the new restaurant, but we’ve gone nuts trying to figure out what exactly you’re doing. Please, sir…a kernel.

RB: No, you have to wait!  We’re almost ready to announce it but we’re not quite there yet. I don’t want to tell people. You know, there are some chefs that have a crazy dream one night and go to the press with it the next morning. I’m not that guy!

TLK: Alright, alright. So, let’s change gears. You have had a big year in terms of travel. Spent a lot of time in South America, in Peru, and you’re headed to Brazil next, yes?

RB: That’s right. We work with wholesome sweeteners for organic sugar and guava syrup. For this trip, we’re on a job that focuses on sugar and honey production in Brazil, all organic and sustainable, so we’re really excited. It’s just a few days but it happens over Carnaval in Rio. We get to actually spend the day in a VIP booth. I’m not sure what to expect but I am as excited about that as I am about seeing all the sugar production!

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TLK: We’ve been out on the town with you; we’re guessing you’ll be dancing through those Rio de Janeiro streets.

RB: I will be. I’m learning samba as we speak!

TLK: Ha! We figured. Since you’re headed to Miami for SOBEWFF, I guess the next logical question would be: Where we can find you dancing in the after hours?

RB: You have to tell me where I’m going to go in Miami. I have been to the event so many times, we work all the time and at the end of each night we’re all super tired. But I’m looking to dance!

TLK: We will get you out one night. Promise! But first, let’s talk about Mexico! The Mexican food landscape is changing right now. What do you see that’s changed in the last 10 years that’s really pushing the envelope in a different direction?

RB: Well, two things. One is that the American public has finally out broken its tie with the thinking that Mexican food is only one thing, and that’s basically a glorified Taco Bell menu. If it wasn’t fajitas, nachos, burritos or enchiladas, they didn’t want anything to do with it. But that’s a thing of the past. That’s really positive. That can also open people’s eyes to the fact that Mexican food in Mexico is really different, that there’s regional Mexican cuisines. So, that’s number one.

Number two is that the chefs in Mexico that are doing the modern take on Mexican food have learned to speak a language that is, regional, local and international. They can communicate on both of those levels and that means they can talk to a wider audience. When I first started going to Mexico, we went to the regional restaurant and they were 100% Oaxacan or Yucatecan or Baja Californian and they didn’t speak an international language. While we could go in there and enjoy it, the general public couldn’t do that and I’ve always prided myself as being somebody who could help translate. In other words, I spoke that international language and could bring some forth these ideas in my books and TV program, and also in the restaurants. Now, there are chefs all over Mexico that can do exactly the same thing and they’re doing it really beautifully. They’re not losing the soul of the dish — at least most of them aren’t – and what they’re doing is presenting the food in a more international style, using an international vernacular that people can understand right away.

TLK: Of the chefs you mention, which ones are you watching? I imagine Enrique Olvera goes without saying.

RB: Yes. He’s entered into another level, so now he’s communicating only on the international. There are a lot of chefs all over Mexico that are much closer to their roots and, yes, they’re speaking that international language but they’re speaking it with a stronger accent. The person that I’ve been looking and watching for quite a while is Jorge Vallejo at Quintonil in Mexico City.

TLK: We just went in November! We were, well…blown away.

RB: It’s really good food. The service has gotten so much better since they opened two years ago, and they’re just doing such a great job right now. So I’m really happy with him! Also Edgar Nuñez at Sud 777. His food tends to be a bit more contemporary international but he’s becoming much more comfortable with his roots and I’m seeing that in his food. Then, Pablo Salas at Amaranta.

TLK: YES! Amaranta. Our favorite restaurant in all of Mexico right now.

RB: Cool. I think he’s doing a really wonderful job.  I’m very excited that you like what he is doing! There is Roberto Solis out in Merida and the guys in Oaxaca like Alejandro Ruiz. He’s sort of the father or grandfather of it all. There’s José Manuel Baños at Pitiona, and he’s doing a very nice job — very contemporary food. He worked a couple of seasons at El Bulli, so he kind of comes out of that style of things.  Then, of course, the guys up in Baja. There’s others scattered around Mexico, but they tend to be sole players in their community. There’s Lucero Soto in Morelia. She tends to be a little more settled in traditional food but presenting in a contemporary way. She’s doing a great job too! Every time I go to México there’s a whole new crop of places I want to check out. In México City, have you eaten at Maximo Bistrot?

TLK: Yes! More than once. We’re fans. It’s our “you want to eat there every night” spot when we’re in Mexico City.

RB: He’s [Chef Eduardo Garciá] not very Mexican but he taps a whole lot of local products, which I appreciate.

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TLK: Speaking of local products, you have advocated for chefs to really be involved in the process, to become farmers themselves, if you will. Bring back seeds, be growers in their own region, or rely on international farms they have relationships with to help source. Do you see that happening more and more?

RB: Yeah, we’ve done it for a long time here, for two reasons. One is that I believe that the best cuisine always comes from a place that has the best local agriculture. Secondly, if I want to be able to really showcase true Mexican flavors, they have to be locally grown. We couldn’t be shipping in stuff from México that was just picked up, pass the border, etc… Plus, many fruits and vegetables don’t ripen correctly here. Like avocadoes. We have a relationship with one small co-op of farms in Michoacán – the capital of avocado production. Those are shipped directly from to us in Chicago. We have guy that receives them and ripens them for us. We have really cemented our relationships with a lot of growers and we call them part of the Frontera family. Because they really are a part of our family, they just don’t happen to be next to us.

The spices, however, we grow here on our rooftop above the restaurant, in my production garden at my house, or one of the other five Chicago farms that we work very closely with. To me, that is why our food is the way that it is. We get all the right stuff.  

TLK: Okay, so back to Miami. The city is so Latin influenced, be it from Cuba, Puerto Rico, South America, or Mexico. A lot of inspiration. What kind of things are you looking for when you visit Miami?

RB: When I go anywhere, what I really like to do is contrast something that is really traditional with what is more contemporary. I first go to the traditional restaurants, nothing fancy, just to see what is on the menu and what people are making. Then, I’ll go to the more contemporary restaurants. These days, in the United States, you can always find chefs that are a sort of modern version of whatever the traditional food of an area is. I love there to be a contrast of those two things. I have eaten at Michelle Bernstein’s Sra. Martinez, and I’m sorry that they just closed. I had a really wonderful meal there. Even though he’s not Latin, [Michael Schwartz of] Michael’s Genuine is really influenced by place. He has a really nice place in the Caymans, as well.

TLK: For fans that want to get a peek, you’ll be at the Whole Foods Market Grand Tasting Village on Saturday from 11:30 – 12:15 PM doing a demo, yes?

RB: Absolutely.

TLK: We’ll find you afterwards to go dancing!

RB:  You will, you will!

Rick Bayless will be participating at various events during South Beach Food & Wine Festival, but be sure to check out his demo in the Grand Tasting Village on Saturday at 11:30 AM.